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Video Game Industry Thread: February part II is done, go to the next thread

We first spoke with an Amazon representative on chat support, and after a very long pause, were directed to call Amazon’s customer service line.

Using the order of Mass Effect 3 we placed for one of our contest winners as a reference point, we told the Amazon rep we were completely unsatisfied with the game, and made clear that it was not Amazon’s fault; instead, we conveyed that it was the developer’s fault.

After another lengthy pause, Amazon told us they would “issue a full or partial refund if you are not satisfied with the quality of Mass Effect 3, and it is the developer’s fault.” Upon Amazon’s receipt of the game, it would then be sent to the return department for evaluation, and it must be returned within 30 days of purchase. We want to emphasize that Amazon did not promise a full refund, but they did promise, at the very least, a partial refund. And this was for the PC version of the game, and we made sure they knew it was open and had been played.

I'm not seeing anything in there that indicates that Amazon is giving refunds ONLY because people thought the ending to ME3 sucked, specifically. I'm seeing a company offering a refund to a dissatisfied customer. In other words, if I ordered Penisstorm, and then asked Amazon nicely for a refund because I thought the developer put too many dick jokes in there, Amazon might give me a refund too.

It's one thing for people to ask for their money back because they thought the ending sucks. It's quite another for the publisher/store to give refunds they normally wouldn't because of a specific situation. I'm not seeing much evidence for that just yet.

We first spoke with an Amazon representative on chat support, and after a very long pause, were directed to call Amazon’s customer service line.

Using the order of Mass Effect 3 we placed for one of our contest winners as a reference point, we told the Amazon rep we were completely unsatisfied with the game, and made clear that it was not Amazon’s fault; instead, we conveyed that it was the developer’s fault.

After another lengthy pause, Amazon told us they would “issue a full or partial refund if you are not satisfied with the quality of Mass Effect 3, and it is the developer’s fault.” Upon Amazon’s receipt of the game, it would then be sent to the return department for evaluation, and it must be returned within 30 days of purchase. We want to emphasize that Amazon did not promise a full refund, but they did promise, at the very least, a partial refund. And this was for the PC version of the game, and we made sure they knew it was open and had been played.

I'm not seeing anything in there that indicates that Amazon is giving refunds ONLY because people thought the ending to ME3 sucked, specifically. I'm seeing a company offering a refund to a dissatisfied customer. In other words, if I ordered Penisstorm, and then asked Amazon nicely for a refund because I thought the developer put too many dick jokes in there, Amazon might give me a refund too.

It's one thing for people to ask for their money back because they thought the ending sucks. It's quite another for the publisher/store to give refunds they normally wouldn't because of a specific situation. I'm not seeing much evidence for that just yet.

They're not. It doesn't have anything to do with ME3 and they're just following their own policy for people asking for a refund.Source

So really there's no big news here other than "people continue to be pissed about ME3's ending, and some are taking advantage of Amazon's generous return policy to get their money back."

We first spoke with an Amazon representative on chat support, and after a very long pause, were directed to call Amazon’s customer service line.

Using the order of Mass Effect 3 we placed for one of our contest winners as a reference point, we told the Amazon rep we were completely unsatisfied with the game, and made clear that it was not Amazon’s fault; instead, we conveyed that it was the developer’s fault.

After another lengthy pause, Amazon told us they would “issue a full or partial refund if you are not satisfied with the quality of Mass Effect 3, and it is the developer’s fault.” Upon Amazon’s receipt of the game, it would then be sent to the return department for evaluation, and it must be returned within 30 days of purchase. We want to emphasize that Amazon did not promise a full refund, but they did promise, at the very least, a partial refund. And this was for the PC version of the game, and we made sure they knew it was open and had been played.

I'm not seeing anything in there that indicates that Amazon is giving refunds ONLY because people thought the ending to ME3 sucked, specifically. I'm seeing a company offering a refund to a dissatisfied customer. In other words, if I ordered Penisstorm, and then asked Amazon nicely for a refund because I thought the developer put too many dick jokes in there, Amazon might give me a refund too.

It's one thing for people to ask for their money back because they thought the ending sucks. It's quite another for the publisher/store to give refunds they normally wouldn't because of a specific situation. I'm not seeing much evidence for that just yet.

They're not. It doesn't have anything to do with ME3 and they're just following their own policy for people asking for a refund.Source

So really there's no big news here other than "people continue to be pissed about ME3's ending, and some are taking advantage of Amazon's generous return policy to get their money back."

More or less.

And honestly I still think it's a pretty isolated thing, but it's being blown up.

I still maintain that returning a game you fully played for a full refund is a shitty thing to do, but I don't think many people are doing it. And its doubly frustrating for people like me who support wanting a better ending, or at least closure to the whole fiasco, but want to do it via civilized communication and discussion and not dumb shit like ripping off the company you supposedly care about or being a douche and wasting the feds time with stupid complaints.

I know for a fact that EA's return policy is that you simply have ninety days and they'll send you a sealed copy that you can return to the store you purchased it from provided you can send them a copy of a valid receipt along with the game.

They don't really give a rat's ass why so long as it's within the first ninety days of purchase.

At this point the game could end with the Reapers defeated by the power of love generated by Shepard's latest romance and I'd keep my yap shut, since the people completely flipping out about it aren't exactly making a great case for themselves.

I know for a fact that EA's return policy is that you simply have ninety days and they'll send you a sealed copy that you can return to the store you purchased it from provided you can send them a copy of a valid receipt along with the game.

They don't really give a rat's ass why so long as it's within the first ninety days of purchase.

This looks like it is for Origin though it could be for their online store that ships the ME3 boxed version. It doesn't appear to ask for any shipment or anything.

At this point the game could end with the Reapers defeated by the power of love generated by Shepard's latest romance and I'd keep my yap shut, since the people completely flipping out about it aren't exactly making a great case for themselves.

And by false advertising, we're all hip to the fact that it means 'did something I didn't like much'. I promise you this much: if the people dealing with this nonsense have any humanity, they're collating all these responses so they can laugh at the complainants expense. Not to their face/ears/chat windows, of course. But they're doing it nonetheless.

It was simply the best part about working EA Customer Support. Sharing stories of the dumbest people on the planet. Good times.

On the bright side, over 3000 of them raised 70k for Child's Play in some kind of protest.

The whole thing makes me wonder if video game companies do any focus tests on this kind of shit later in development. A lot of bad endings are focus grouped out nowadays if I recall correctly.

Yep. Most famously Han Solo dying in Return of the Jedi. And focus tests result in a lot of last-minute reshoots. Then again I've never heard of a movie changing its ending post-release simply because people bitched.

@Undead Scottsman: The ending was pretty terrible. Left a lot to be desired, wasn't terribly satisfying as an ending to a massive trilogy, and generally just felt rushed and completely unpolished, like they had to get an ending on the disc POST HASTE.

Someone posted a nice light-on-spoilers synopsis a few pages back when I asked. I think it boiled down to "all your choices through 3 games really mean nothing, Pick A, B, or C to continue on for your ending".

Someone posted a nice light-on-spoilers synopsis a few pages back when I asked. I think it boiled down to "all your choices through 3 games really mean nothing, Pick A, B, or C to continue on for your ending".

So, the most logical development conclusion seems to have been missed by practically everybody? Cool.

On the bright side, over 3000 of them raised 70k for Child's Play in some kind of protest.

The whole thing makes me wonder if video game companies do any focus tests on this kind of shit later in development. A lot of bad endings are focus grouped out nowadays if I recall correctly.

Yep. Most famously Han Solo dying in Return of the Jedi. And focus tests result in a lot of last-minute reshoots. Then again I've never heard of a movie changing its ending post-release simply because people bitched.

The film was produced by Arnon Milchan's company Embassy International Pictures (not to be confused with Joseph E. Levine's Embassy Pictures). Gilliam's original cut of the film is 142 minutes long and ends on a dark note. This version was released internationally outside the US by 20th Century Fox.

US distribution was handled by Universal. Universal executives thought the ending tested poorly, and Universal chairman Sid Sheinberg insisted on dramatically re-editing the film to give it a happy ending, a decision that Gilliam resisted vigorously. As with the cult science fiction film Blade Runner (1982), which had been released three years earlier, a version of Brazil was created by the movie studio with a more consumer-friendly ending. After a lengthy delay with no sign of the film being released, Gilliam took out a full-page ad in the trade magazine Variety urging Sheinberg to release Brazil in its intended version. Eventually, after Gilliam conducted private screenings (without the studio's approval), Brazil was awarded the Los Angeles Film Critics Association award for "Best Picture", which prompted Universal to finally agree to release a modified 132-minute version supervised by Gilliam, in 1985.[3][17]

For some reason, the love conquers all version was what was shown on syndicated TV, probably because it was shorter.

They should do more of that with video games. Prince of Persia 2008 would end with everybody because focus groups would have gotten mad at that.

@Undead Scottsman: The ending was pretty terrible. Left a lot to be desired, wasn't terribly satisfying as an ending to a massive trilogy, and generally just felt rushed and completely unpolished, like they had to get an ending on the disc POST HASTE.

Still does't justify any of the goosery going on.

Pretty much how I feel.

I don't know what it is about Bioware games but they attract the most obsessive fan base.

Someone posted a nice light-on-spoilers synopsis a few pages back when I asked. I think it boiled down to "all your choices through 3 games really mean nothing, Pick A, B, or C to continue on for your ending".

That, and the ending sequence that follows is really short and the latter of half of it doesn't make any sense whatsoever.

The producer defended the ending with that they wanted a Lost like ending that people would debate and that would be memorable. I've never seen the ending of Lost, but I presume it doesn't end with half the characters eating ice cream in Canada ROLL CREDITS

Someone posted a nice light-on-spoilers synopsis a few pages back when I asked. I think it boiled down to "all your choices through 3 games really mean nothing, Pick A, B, or C to continue on for your ending".

It's not a big deal when deus ex (any of the three two games) do it, but Mass Effect people go all crazy batshit.

On the bright side, over 3000 of them raised 70k for Child's Play in some kind of protest.

The whole thing makes me wonder if video game companies do any focus tests on this kind of shit later in development. A lot of bad endings are focus grouped out nowadays if I recall correctly.

Yep. Most famously Han Solo dying in Return of the Jedi. And focus tests result in a lot of last-minute reshoots. Then again I've never heard of a movie changing its ending post-release simply because people bitched.

Do you count Futurama? Jurassic Bark, and then later with Bender's big score?

They also changed I am Legend's ending due to test groups, which kinda ruins the entire movie.

On the bright side, over 3000 of them raised 70k for Child's Play in some kind of protest.

The whole thing makes me wonder if video game companies do any focus tests on this kind of shit later in development. A lot of bad endings are focus grouped out nowadays if I recall correctly.

Yep. Most famously Han Solo dying in Return of the Jedi. And focus tests result in a lot of last-minute reshoots. Then again I've never heard of a movie changing its ending post-release simply because people bitched.

Do you count Futurama? Jurassic Bark, and then later with Bender's big score?

They also changed I am Legend's ending due to test groups, which kinda ruins the entire movie.

I have I Am Legend on BlueRay, and it comes with both endings. The theatrical and the original.

Someone posted a nice light-on-spoilers synopsis a few pages back when I asked. I think it boiled down to "all your choices through 3 games really mean nothing, Pick A, B, or C to continue on for your ending".

...that's it? Considering the massive amount of work it takes to make one ending, much less several with multiple options, this might be a case of inflated expectations. Hell, I'm just impressed some of the decisions of the first Mass Effect are affecting my war preparations.

On the bright side, over 3000 of them raised 70k for Child's Play in some kind of protest.

The whole thing makes me wonder if video game companies do any focus tests on this kind of shit later in development. A lot of bad endings are focus grouped out nowadays if I recall correctly.

Yep. Most famously Han Solo dying in Return of the Jedi. And focus tests result in a lot of last-minute reshoots. Then again I've never heard of a movie changing its ending post-release simply because people bitched.

Do you count Futurama? Jurassic Bark, and then later with Bender's big score?

They also changed I am Legend's ending due to test groups, which kinda ruins the entire movie.

I am Legend wasn't post-release though.

Now that I think about it, the Sherlock Holmes story where he dies was retconned into being alive.

...also, come to think of it, weren't the endings of the first two ME games dependent on choices you make in the last five minutes?

Edit: I think the Jurassic Bark/Bender's Big Score thing was artistic license and/or tweaking the fans (in a future episode, they do an entire joke around "oh no, I found another of Fry's dogs!) rather than bowing to fan pressure. The ending to Jurassic Bark was awesome. It reduced me into a horrible gelatinous blob of sorrow.

On the bright side, over 3000 of them raised 70k for Child's Play in some kind of protest.

The whole thing makes me wonder if video game companies do any focus tests on this kind of shit later in development. A lot of bad endings are focus grouped out nowadays if I recall correctly.

Yep. Most famously Han Solo dying in Return of the Jedi. And focus tests result in a lot of last-minute reshoots. Then again I've never heard of a movie changing its ending post-release simply because people bitched.

Do you count Futurama? Jurassic Bark, and then later with Bender's big score?

They also changed I am Legend's ending due to test groups, which kinda ruins the entire movie.

I have I Am Legend on BlueRay, and it comes with both endings. The theatrical and the original.

Oh really? I didn't know that. I just know what the real ending is supposed to be, because I saw the omega man. There were lots of hints as to what the real ending was supposed to be, too, which just end up leading to no where with the theatrical ending. Is the original ending filmed well?

On the bright side, over 3000 of them raised 70k for Child's Play in some kind of protest.

The whole thing makes me wonder if video game companies do any focus tests on this kind of shit later in development. A lot of bad endings are focus grouped out nowadays if I recall correctly.

Yep. Most famously Han Solo dying in Return of the Jedi. And focus tests result in a lot of last-minute reshoots. Then again I've never heard of a movie changing its ending post-release simply because people bitched.

Do you count Futurama? Jurassic Bark, and then later with Bender's big score?

They also changed I am Legend's ending due to test groups, which kinda ruins the entire movie.

I have I Am Legend on BlueRay, and it comes with both endings. The theatrical and the original.

Oh really? I didn't know that. I just know what the real ending is supposed to be, because I saw the omega man. There were lots of hints as to what the real ending was supposed to be, too, which just end up leading to no where with the theatrical ending. Is the original ending filmed well?

On the bright side, over 3000 of them raised 70k for Child's Play in some kind of protest.

The whole thing makes me wonder if video game companies do any focus tests on this kind of shit later in development. A lot of bad endings are focus grouped out nowadays if I recall correctly.

Yep. Most famously Han Solo dying in Return of the Jedi. And focus tests result in a lot of last-minute reshoots. Then again I've never heard of a movie changing its ending post-release simply because people bitched.

Do you count Futurama? Jurassic Bark, and then later with Bender's big score?

They also changed I am Legend's ending due to test groups, which kinda ruins the entire movie.

I have I Am Legend on BlueRay, and it comes with both endings. The theatrical and the original.

Oh really? I didn't know that. I just know what the real ending is supposed to be, because I saw the omega man. There were lots of hints as to what the real ending was supposed to be, too, which just end up leading to no where with the theatrical ending. Is the original ending filmed well?

The cut with the original ending includes a few more scenes that foreshadow it, and the ending itself was very well done.

Edit: I think the Jurassic Bark/Bender's Big Score thing was artistic license and/or tweaking the fans (in a future episode, they do an entire joke around "oh no, I found another of Fry's dogs!) rather than bowing to fan pressure. The ending to Jurassic Bark was awesome. It reduced me into a horrible gelatinous blob of sorrow.

I dunno, the ending changed in BBS which made it a lot less depressing. And worse, IMO. The original ending is one of my favorite moments in television. I too get reduced to a sobbing mess every time I see that episode, and it's precisely why I think it's so great. I kinda disregard BBS for that very reason.

That's the closest I can get to an ending changing, though, and like you said, it might not have even been to fan pressure. I guess you could count the changes they made to Final Fantasy VII through the sequels and prequels, though. Although the big change that a lot of fans want, that would ruin the story IMO, is Aeris being brought back, which hasn't happened yet.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FocusGroupEnding
The only one is the Fallout 3 ending in the video game section. Is it because nobody wants to redo entire sections of the game nowadays? Most videogames don't have anything that could be considered postproduction they could use to change shit so it would explain the lack of them. Or it could be due to a lack of information on the development process itself due to a lack of developer commentaries with games.